In a video production environment where time is money, After Effects 5.0 should be considered an investment in future profits. The new functions in this release can cut the time needed to develop sophisticated image composites, spectacular special effects, and complex keyframed animations.

The current release literally adds a new dimension to the toolset with 3-D functions. After Effects is not a true 3-D program, and it does not support 3-D wireframe geometry. All image data in an After Effects composition is two-dimensional. But 2-D layers now can be manipulated in 3-D space, and they can interact with lights and cameras.

The 3-D functions are well integrated into the interface. The Timeline contains an intuitive icon to convert a layer from 2-D to 3-D. The standard layer outline merely expands to accommodate 3-D properties. For example, the z-dimension is grouped with existing x- and y-coordinates for properties such as position and rotation. The Materials property, for example, lets you activate cast shadows or alter a layer's reflectivity. Although cameras and lights are new elements in After Effects compositions, they are easy to access and animate, because they are specialized layers.

Our only criticism of this release concerns the complexities inherent in mixing 2-D and 3-D layers. For example, long-standing simulated 3-D effects, such as Bulge and Wave Warp, do not contain any true z-values.

Parenting and Expressions are two new functions that automate the process of creating complex animations with many different elements. Parenting lets you set up a simple hierarchical relationship between elements by designating one layer the "child" of another. Transformations applied to the parent are automatically applied to the child. Parenting does have some limitations, though: Transformations never flow from children to parents. Also, opacity is not affected by the parent/child relationship, and only like values can be linked.

With little to no programming, the Expressions function lets you create links between dissimilar animation properties. For example, the rotation of one object can control the opacity of another. You can modify Expressions with simple mathematical statements. For example, if you need a small gear to rotate at twice the speed of a large gear, you simply link the two properties and add a multiplier (*2) to the Expression. You can also use JavaScript to build your own Expressions.

By purchasing technology from third-party developers (Cycore Cult Effects and Atomic Power Evolution), Adobe has added some spectacular functions to After Effects. The new Shatter tool lets you blow up a layer, breaking the image into shards of almost any shape and dispersing them across the screen. Other filters create repeating ripples, pulsing colors, and linear strobes.

The standard version of After Effects is aimed at motion-graphics designers and Web developers. The Production Bundle is intended for special- effects video artists, and it contains functions, such as Fractal Noise, Optics Compensation, and Vector Paint, that are omitted from the standard ver- sion. Vector Paint lets you add nondestructive brushstrokes to any layer in a composition. Its power lies in its ability to record and play back brushstrokes across multiple frames. A simple toggle switch lets you create wiggling lines for that popular hand-drawn animation look. You can also have your brushstrokes interpreted as a matte to create custom-animated wipes and reveals.

After Effects' enhanced built-in video-editing tools make switching back and forth between a video editor (like Premiere) and an After Effects composition unnecessary. You can draw masks directly into the Composition window. After Effects now previews your edits dynamically, using actual image data, and will even temporarily drop screen resolution to conserve system resources. It also allows you to define a smaller section of the composition when rendering previews. Another enhancement is After Effects' ability to generate Macromedia Flash movies directly, complete with hyperlinks.

After Effects correctly interprets files from the latest versions of other Adobe products. For example, After Effects preserves Photoshop 6 vector masks and Illustrator 9 transparencies. The Production Bundle can handle Photoshop files that contain 16 bits of data per channel for high-fidelity color. And After Effects can embed project links into QuickTime movies.

After Effects' new features make visual effects exponentially easier to create and edit. Professional video artists should consider it a must-have upgrade.

After Effects Delivers Once Aga...

After Effects Delivers Once Again

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